A
new Gamasutra feature reveals that the Japanese gaming giant has put measures in place to stop controversies like the race flap that dogged
Resident Evil 5 from occurring again.
When Capcom showed its first trailers of Japan-developed
Resident Evil 5, the company was accused of racism in its depiction of primarily black African zombies fighting a white American protagonist. The company later took steps in both further development of the game's content and via its public relations to smooth over these problems before its eventual,
highly successful, release.
It turns out that the Osaka-headquartered company has put forward a formal process for dealing with international cultural issues.
"Since the
RE5 controversy, we have become much more aware of how important it is that we are part of the asset creation process early on so that we are able to have a say in the end product," says Capcom senior PR manager Melody Pfeiffer.
"We are also designing a lot of our own assets from this side of the pond, so that we are able to make strategic pieces of content that make sense for our market," she says.
"We are working really closely with our producers in Japan to construct these materials for the West and they are open more then ever to hearing our thoughts and ideas for assets."
The full feature,
'Games With The Power To Offend: Surviving And Stoking Controversy', goes into depth on dealing with gaming controversies and developer and PR response, and is live now on Gamasutra.
